Page 88 of Code Block
Noah rubbed his face and continued, "Oh, well. Like my pops always said, 'If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas.'"
Claire giggled into the phone. "Wait, wait, I've got one for you. From my dad. 'If a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its butt when it walked.'"
They laughed and shared some more idioms, before Claire brought the conversation back around to their meal for tomorrow night. Noah smiled, acknowledging that food was a priority for her.
"I'm thinking I'll make chicken pot pie. It'll make a nice meal for three and it's pretty easy since I already have a broiled chicken in the fridge. I was planning to make it this weekend, but this will work just fine."
Noah smiled, listening as she rattled off ingredients and prep steps with more detail than usual. She was talking fast. Really getting into the particulars. His smile faded.
"You okay, Claire?" He asked gently. "Something on your mind?"
She paused, and he heard a sigh. "Do you think there's going to be any fallout for me?"
Noah exhaled sharply. He'd been so caught up in what this meant to him—as an employee, as a couple dating within the company—he hadn't even considered how it might affect her.
"Shit, Claire. I'm sorry. I've been so focused on doing what I can for us that it never occurred to me that I should be worrying about you individually." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "I think it's because your position feels absolutely solid to me. Like I need to orbit around you to make everything work out. Yeah, I'm not worried about you at all. They need you. I'm not sure they need me as much as I'm convenient for them."
Noah waited for her reply, absently straightening the sheets and adjusting his pillow, wondering what was going through her head.
When she spoke, her voice was soft, her warmth settling in his chest. "I love you, Noah. And you're right. It will all work out."
She yawned again, and he jumped in before she could say anything else.
"You're tired, and it's late. Let's finish this in the morning. I'll pick you up at our usual time. Night, love."
"Goodnight. See you tomorrow."
"Question," Noah said, before stuffing another bite of Claire's homemade chicken pot pie in his mouth. Rick, Noah, and Claire cloistered around the coffee table in Claire's living room, and Lucinda's face lit up the flat screen TV Noah had brought with him. Rick had set it up to cast Lucinda's video chat while they brainstormed ideas on how to address the job offer from Jackie.
He finished his bite and continued, "Why would the developers report to the person in charge of MADS, et al.?"
Claire covered her mouth and barely avoided spewing her iced tea all over everyone. She grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth. Everyone waited. "Did you just use 'et al.' in a sentence?"
Rick ducked his head while Noah looked perplexed. Lucinda's chuckles came across the speakers and Noah scowled at her. "Yes. What's so funny?"
"Nothing. Sorry!" Claire answered. "I don't think I've ever heard someone actually say that out loud. I'm sorry, please continue." She made a motion with her hand, encouraging him to proceed.
Noah shook his head. "I get why they'd want the application admins to report to this position. It makes sense to have someone managing the big picture and making sure all the moving parts align. But the developers?" He looked at Rick. "You guys also work on other systems for Caprock, right? Not just MADS."
Rick swallowed his bite and took a drink before answering. "True. We've helped update multiple applications here and in the UK. Plus, I'm pretty sure we're in talks to help with your upcoming data warehouse project."
"It could be because of the project," Lucinda piped in as she stirred the bowl she held. When she'd heard what dish Claire was planning to cook for dinner tonight, she'd ordered her own chicken pot pie from a local bistro, tickled to "match their food energy."
"What do you mean?" Claire asked.
"Maybe your big boss based the structure on your current project, without considering what future projects look like. Claire, remember when Nano did the same on the Jones-Bailey thing?" Lucinda shook her head. "What a mess."
Rick cleared his throat. "It could be they want you to take over Simon's role in managing the project so he could move on to the data warehouse."
Noah perked up. "Right. Project-wise, the developers report to the project manager, who is currently Simon. But once the MADS update is complete, there's no reason the MADS manager should be their boss because they'd be on to new and unrelated projects."
Lucinda spoke up again. "So, tell your director the developers need to report to that Simon dude in the organizational structure. I mean, that fixes everything, right?"
"What if they make me the project manager? Then we're back to square one, with Claire reporting to me."
Claire spoke up. "Typically, project teams consist of people who report to a functional manager—you know, their day job boss?—with a dotted line to the project manager. It's a standard part of running projects."
Rick nodded. "Unless Caprock gets real picky suddenly, I don't see them having a problem with a soft reporting link like that. I mean, unless you were in charge of the budget and Claire was the person writing the checks or something else directly tied to money handling," he said.
